Passaris defends Ruto’s move to dish out trolleys in State House
By Lutta Njomo, August 10, 2025Nairobi Woman Representative Esther Passaris, on Saturday, August 9, 2025, defended President William Ruto’s decision to distribute trolleys, among other items, during an empowerment programme at State House, Nairobi.
Passaris defended the move after a social media user, Karobo Nderitu, faulted the whole programme, insisting that it was unfortunate for the president to empower young people with trolleys.
“It’s unfortunate that a whole head of state is empowering the youth with trolleys in the 21st century,” @Karobo254 wrote on X.
Passaris’s response
Responding to the comment, the lawmaker argued that Ruto did not impose any item on hundreds of people who braved cold weather to attend the empowerment event.
The vocal legislator explained that every group was allowed to pick what could help them grow their ventures.
“President William Ruto didn’t impose what anyone should get. People were free to choose the tools they needed to work, feed their families, and grow their business. Some chose handcarts, others welding machines, saloon equipment, water filtration systems or posho mills,” Passaris explained.
“That’s empowerment meeting people where they are and giving them what works for their dream. You can mock the tool, but you can’t mock the hustle,” she insisted.
The event
The empowerment drive, hosted by President William Ruto, was joined by several lawmakers from Nairobi.
According to a State House communique, each group received equipment in line with the request they had made. For example, 380 groups benefitted from 380 tents and 38,000 chairs, with each getting a tent and 100 chairs.
More than 200 groups received carwash stations, 120 public address systems went to a similar number of groups, 80 got catering equipment, while 63 groups were gifted 245 motorbikes.
Other groups received tailoring machines, salon and barbershop kits, juice vending machines, egg trolleys, pool tables, large format printers, as well as street photography equipment and rickshaws.
Sewing machines, wood-cutting machines and posho mills were also dished out during the event.